AILA and AIC Staff are Joined by Over 150 AILA Members in Fast for Immigration Reform

AILA and AIC Staff are Joined by over 150 AILA Members in Fast for Immigration Reform

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, staff from the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the American Immigration Council (AIC) are joined by over 150 AILA members from around the country in a 24 hour fast to draw attention to the need for immigration reform.

"I joined this fast for one simple reason: because our country needs House leadership to bring immigration reform legislation up for a vote," said AILA Executive Director Crystal Williams. She continued, "Is going without food pleasant? No. But across the nation, there are immigrants being torn away from their families and deported, each and every day. The hunger we will feel for these 24 hours is such an infinitely minor feeling compared to the hunger those children and parents, spouses and siblings feel to be reunited with their loved ones."

AILA and AIC's Fast4Reform is an act of solidarity with the fasters from immigrant, labor, and faith groups who voluntarily went without food for 22 days and then passed on their fast to other activists and elected officials last week to continue the push for immigration reform. The Fast4Families continues and over five hundred organizations have taken on, or will take on, solidarity fasts like AILA and AIC.

"Our country needs to get immigration reform done, and done right," Ms. Williams noted. "It is ridiculous that we lack a system designed to meet the needs of this century, rather than the last. AILA believes that our immigration system must uphold the Constitution and core American values of fairness, equality, and due process. Immigration reform is good for America's economy, our businesses, and workers. Our system should strengthen all families and reform should offer an earned path to lawful permanent status and eventually citizenship for the undocumented," she concluded.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.